Story: Somebody has been punching holes in the time-space vortex, and it is through these holes that aliens are abducting humans. But for what reason? The Doctor hears tales of these kidnappings, and brings Ace along to find out why it is happening, where they are being taken, and who is responsible for doing it. The Doctor leaves Bernice behind to rescue them, in case something goes wrong, but what could possibly go wrong? Well, Ace and the Doctor go on a trip in a hyperspace liner, and sure enough, mid-trip, the bad guys show up and board the vessel. We see the crew and passengers, including our two intrepid heroes, captured by man-sized metal ants, and taken to some sort of processing plant. There they are put into cryogenic freeze, where they await some sinister form of knowledge-sucking, intelligence-draining, experimentations! The Doctor is repeatedly made the subject of these tests, yet he regularly escapes and confounds his captors, causing much bother in the meantime.
Review: So, these three storylines run separately for most of the book, and I was quite pleased with how it turned out. And I’m not saying this just because it is Ace’s swansong – she was one of the good parts! Her character ran its course quite suitably, and she leaves with no hard feelings for the Doctor, or her experiences. I do realise that is is not actually Ace I dislike, it is just the way she has been portrayed. I mean, Sophie Aldred was a pretty bad actress (don’t argue, just get your tapes out and review them, you’ll see…), so trying to make something on paper, out of what can only be described as crappy performances, is quite a feat. I won’t miss her at all, as I find Bernice to be a much more realistic person. (Who in the world goes around calling themselves “Ace”? It is quite sad, really…)
Anyway, I did enjoy this book, and after the dark Warlock, it was a fun romp through very Who-like situations. Another 8/10 rating for this one! Maybe I should actually describe what this scale represents? Well, I’ll work on that later. I have books to read!
Year: 1996
Author: Kate Orman
Publisher: Virgin
Pages: 256
